IT'S another Super Saturday in the world of greyhound racing with two of the sport's traditional Classic finals down for decision at Perry Barr and the second batch of second round heats of the Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park.
Perry Barr hosts both the £20,000 Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks Final along with the £7,500-to-the-winner Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup Final, the two deciders dominating a good card at the Birmingham venue - which includes an intriguing match race at the end of the card.
The vote in the Oaks final goes to the Patrick Janssens-trained Yarmouth Derby champion Druids Say Go (9.20) whose speed into the first bend looks set to dominate once again over this 480m trip as she eyes an eight-timer.
The daughter of Droopys Sydney will be short but can still ill-afford any mistakes with lots of speed and talent in the one-lap contest, with Chamberlain Kate (Carol Weatherall), Droopys Eunice (Maxine Locke) and Front Alice (Kevin Proctor) capable of taking her on early, and Icemans Girl (Nathan Hunt) and Coppice Ella (Kevin Hutton) finishing fast.
The Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup might also see the favourite oblige given the Kevin Hutton-trained Rioja Oisin (8.44) broke the track record in the semi-finals last week and a repeat would likely secure the spoils.
However, again the margins are tight - especially in a sprint - and local star Magical Bluebear (Bill Russell) will pounce on any mistakes while those crack four-bend runners Long Fellow (Matt Dartnall) and King Capaldi (Liz McNair) would need no second invitation to pounce. Fair play, too, to Newcastle trainer Steve Anderson for getting two runners through in the form of Bramble Linton and Bramble Oreo.
Dave Lee's rapid El Tornillo (9.02) catches the eye on the supporting card. A finalist in last week's Kent Derby final, he remains one of the fastest around with a start and might have too much for the likes of Birmingham Cup winner Rioja Bungle and the well-drawn Romeo Steel, both of whom might help make the market for the Crayford raider.
Best of the rest at Perry Barr might be Tony Harmes's Chakra (7.53), Simon Deakin's Transfusion (9.36) and Patrick Janssens' Romeo Kingpin (9.52) while a £2,000 match race over 915m brings the curtain down on the night with Kevin Hutton's recent C&D winner Hopiehopiehopie (10.11), impressive on Birmingham Cup final night, fancied to avenge her Central Park defeat last week by Tom Levers' Beach Babe.
Shelbourne Park also tonight completes the second batch of second round heats of the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby.
Good luck to UK challenger Arthur Cornflake (Patrick Godfrey) who runs in heat 15 after March On Freddie produced a strong-running display on Friday night to make it into next week's third round of the famous competition
English Derby winner De Lahdedah (8.03) is fancied to bounce back after last week's defeat when he goes for Liam Dowling in the opening heat nine.
Other fancies are the Pat Buckley-trained pair of Singalong Dolly (8.18) and Superfast Gorden (8.32) and Owen McKenna's hotpot Callaway Knegare (9.06).
